The effects of electroconvulsive shock on the discriminative stimulus properties of d-amphetamine and apomorphine: evidence for dopamine receptor alteration subsequent ECS.
Sprague-Dawley male rats responding for sweetened milk on a variable interval 20 s schedule of reinforcement were trained to discriminate which of two levers to press on the basis of whether they had been injected with 1.0 mg/kg of d-amphetamine or saline prior to daily training sessions. Following acquisition of the discrimination a dose-response generalization function was determined by testing animals on 0.10, 0.15, 0.25, 0.35, 0.50 and 0.75 mg/kg of amphetamine. Subjects then received either three electroconvulsive shock (ECS) treatments of sham-ECS forty-eight hours after the final treatment all subjects were injected with 0.25 mg/kg of amphetamine and retested. ECS was found to enhance the ability of the animals to discriminate amphetamine. In a second experiment it was found that ECS also facilitated the ability of animals to discriminate the cue properties of apomorphine, a direct dopamine receptor agonist. These results suggest that dopamine receptor sensitivity is altered by electroconvulsive shock.
D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003913:Dextroamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004597:Electroshock; D005795:Generalization, Stimulus / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D011954:Receptors, Dopamine / Q000502:physiology*
D011954:Receptors, Dopamine; D001058:Apomorphine; D003913:Dextroamphetamine